Mephiles' Lovely Circus
by XxInsaneDreamerxX
Summary: The circus has arrived. What starts as a fun day for Shadow and Sonic quickly turns into something sinister thanks to Mephiles. Shadow is thrown into a twisted nightmare world, and his single goal is to save Sonic! ((SONADOW/Mephonic/Mephadow rated T for now, rating will increase with additional chapters, be warned! Will contain dark themes.. rape/abuse/gore))
1. Chapter 1

XxInsaneDreamerxX here!  
This is a little something I dreamed up one night.

( Legal note: I own nothing! Don't sue me! Millie the Cat belongs to Vaporion79 - go read her stories! )

On with the show! Enjoy the story!

* * *

Night had fallen fast, as if either of the two hedgehogs noticed.

The stars twinkled high above in the sky. The grass, thanks to a brief mist of evening rain, had countless dew drops which softly reflected the colorful lights of the circus.

Oh, the circus. It was neither of their intentions to go. The circus, as the two of them decided over lunch earlier that day, was for weaning pups and their mothers. Not for grown hedgehogs like them. Nope. No sir.

And yet... Here they were.

"Alright! No holdin' back! You're goin' down this time!" Sonic cracked a grin. After popping his neck and shoulder, he threw a ball, aiming for a bullseye. Sonic didn't want to admit it, but that powder blue bear stuffed animal had been calling his name all day. Almost every single game booth had the stupidly cute thing! He just had to have it.

Whoosh!

The ball sailed harmlessly into the darkness, the bullseye safe and still standing proud. A few children passing by giggled at the blue hedgehog.

"I...missed?" Sonic gawked, his shoulders slumped. "Man..." He frantically fished around for more money, but he was broke. "No way..!" Disappointed, Sonic rested his hands on the back of his head and spun on his heels to face his companion. A sheepish grin replaced that radiant, confident one from earlier.

"Guess I lost- ..huh?" Sonic's eyes widened.

Shadow stood not too far from Sonic, one eye closed and with two ice cream cones held in one hand. And...there was a powder blue bear toy under the other arm!

Sonic was speechless. His emerald eyes must've given him away because Shadow was smirking devilishly.

"What, so you _don't_ want ice cream, then? I thought this was your favorite flavor..." Shadow mocked playfully. Then, as a deliberate afterthought, he casually glanced down at the prized toy under his arm.

"Oh..This thing? I figured someone like you would appreciate it, so I won one while you were making a fool out of yourself." Shadow's eyes softened while he spoke.

"Catch." He said simply, tossing the toy into the air.

Sonic stumbled forward, nearly tripping as he caught the toy.

"Shadow, you...?"

"What, noticed you were ogling that silly toy all night?" A dark, smooth chuckle rolled out of Shadow and he shook his head slowly.

"-!" Shadow nearly lost his grip on the icecream when Sonic cheered at the top of his lungs, earning startled stares from the other circus goers.

Sonic zipped around the area, kicking up grass, litter, and leaving a trail of blue as he went. The blue hedgehog back flipped high into the air, grinning like a maniac, but lost his footing when he landed.

"Whooa-!" Sonic flailed his arms rapidly, sending the blue bear into the air as he fell over.

But, rather than falling flat on his back on the ground, he found himself in the arms of Shadow. The free falling stuffed animal was caught by the ebony hedgehog and was handed back to Sonic.

"I'm glad you like it, but you should be more careful." Shadow said and helped Sonic up on his feet.

"Here." Shadow placed the icecream cone in Sonic's hand.

...

The two passed by brightly colored game stands. The night was pleasantly chilly with an occasional gentle breeze blowing through the treetops. Mobians dressed as clowns were performing delightful tricks for children of all ages. The sounds of laughter and cheerful chatter were all around. Different colored lights bathed the scene in happy hues. Balloons of all colors gently sailed through the night sky. The two hedgehogs walked side by side.

"Heh, thanks Shads..." Sonic spoke very quietly, finally breaking the comfortable silence and stared up at the drifting balloons as they walked. "I... uh...really mean it. Th-thanks. It's just.. you didn't have to...I m-mean.. It's not like..." He stammered and stuttered, feeling a sudden rush of nervousness turn his mind to mush.

"Hm?" Shadow watched Sonic carefully, "That tone doesn't suit you.." Shadow dabbed Sonic's nose with his half eaten icecream, which caused the blue hedgehog to yelp. "Someone like you should always be happy." Shadow teased, smirking once again.

"H-hey! I'm happy! Ah forget it!" Sonic exclaimed, grinning. "Geeze, remind me to never thank ya for anything ever again!"

Shadow snickered and leaned in close, catching a blushing red Sonic off guard, and licked the dab of icecream off his nose. He lingered there for a moment too long, locking eye contact with the other. Sonic felt a sudden wave of heat travel from the tip of his quills to the bottom of his feet.

"You're welcome." Shadow stated bluntly and walked off at his own leisurely pace, leaving a stunned Sonic to realize that he was being left behind.

"Ehhh?! Hey! Wait up!" Sonic jogged after Shadow, smiling wide.

* * *

The sea of smiling faces were perfectly still, unmoving, unblinking, utterly silent. Eyes that once twinkled now were nothing more than a living portrait. All ages were present in the strange menagerie. Old and young.

Bright streamers, sparkling confetti, balloons, performers, airborne dust, everything was frozen, as if time had stopped.

A shadow weaved through the frozen audience. It moved slowly, casting a dark shadow over all it slithered past.

It paused.

Like a black shawl, the formless entity draped itself over the shoulders of a married couple.

"_Curious, this 'love' thing is_."

A soulless voice spoke aloud. A black tendril caressed the chin of the frozen wife, whose arm was around her grinning child.

"_A terrible word. A sickening, crippling concept. I cannot fathom how a mortal's heart could endure such a thing...this... 'Love'_."

The last word dripped with loathing.

"_And yet, with it, one could find the strength to overcome any obstacle. _

_Any at all. _

_The world could be their enemy, but so long as love was in the equation, they would surely find a way to be triumphant. _

_However_.."

The shadow began to slowly drift upward into the air, defying all physics.

"_This little nuisance, this 'love', is not unlike any ordinary weed. All one has to do is nip it at its roots, and watch as the plant withers and dies. _

_... _

_It is a transcendent idea, to be loveless when you take your last breath_."

The closer the shadow drifted toward the center of the magnificent red and white striped circus tent, the faster the shadow began to materialize into a solid figure.

Jagged crystalline quills, piercing green reptilian eyes...

The very air around the dark hedgehog rippled for a brief moment, as if reality itself quaked in fear of his presence. A chaos emerald manifested from thin air and dropped into the waiting palm of Mephiles.

Mephiles slowly looked over his unwilling audience, then raised his arms and cackled, "_Consider this your formal invitation to your final performance, Oh 'Ultimate Lifeform'_.." His cackling grew borderline hysterical, "_Come now, Shadow. Let me see how beautiful you look when you suffer. Die alone. Die_..." The air around him swirled in a flurry of dark, crackling energy. Mephiles extended the hand that held the emerald high above his head, and then bellowed, "... _without love_!"

A ball of pulsating energy gathered at incredible speeds in the palm of Mephiles' hand, then a wave of the black crackling energy rushed out, casting everything and everyone in a veil of darkness.

* * *

Brilliant explosions of color raced across the sky, momentarily staining both clouds and stars with bright colors before shimmering out of existence.

The onlookers down below gasped and clapped as the fireworks continued to dazzle everyone outside. It was the finale of the night, just before the circus closed. Two hedgehogs were sitting on a grassy hill a little ways from the rest of the crowd.

The stuffed animal Shadow had won earlier for Sonic was bathed in a light green as a firework above head exploded. Sonic slowly turned it in his hands, admiring the cute toy.

"You're missing it."

Sonic blinked and snapped out of his deep thoughts.

"Eh?" Sonic stared at Shadow, silently wondering how long he had been lost in his daydreams.

"The fireworks?" Shadow explained to his delirious friend, pointing up, "Remember? You wanted to watch them instead of seeing the final show at the big tent?" He shook his head slowly, "You really are impossible sometimes, you know that?" The ebony hedgehog gently teased.

Sonic rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah yeah, sorry. I won't space out again." The blue hedgehog laughed and fell back onto the cool grass. "Man, today sure was fun. Wouldn't it be wicked cool if we could do this every day!" He grinned wide.

"Hm." Shadow grunted quietly.

A particularly large barrage of vivid red fireworks went off above and everything turned red.

Sonic watched his companion with a growing mixture of concern and curiosity. "Hey Shads, did I say somethin' wrong? You've been quiet since we sat down."

Shadow was completely still as he spoke, "I agree."

A puzzled Sonic sat up. "..?"

"I wish we could do this every day." Shadow continued, his voice made it difficult to detect any real emotion. "-To be with you every day, Sonic." Shadow slowly looked to the blue hedgehog sitting beside him.

By now the vivid, red bouquet of fireworks above them were fading away. Since everything was bathed in red, no one, not even Shadow, could notice the red blush on Sonic's muzzle.

"R-really...?" Sonic hardly noticed that he was clutching the toy blue bear rather hard. Was that really his heartbeat thudding against his chest? It was so loud... Sonic managed a smile, rather than sitting there staring at the ebony hog with his mouth hanging open in surprise. "Heh, I dunno what to say, Shads-"

"Then don't." Shadow insisted, having a subtle kindness in his tone.

The two watched each other for a blissful moment, but something was nagging at Sonic.. Something wasn't right.

Silence...

Why was it so...silent?

Sonic looked past Shadow, his eyes focused on the sky.

"Wha..?!" Sonic yelped and jumped to his feet. "The fireworks?"

Shadow looked all around and sure enough, he too realized something was off. Everything was at a standstill, as if time had froze. All of the brilliant fireworks were completely still, the leaves that had been caught in a gentle breeze were now paused in mid-air. It appeared like everything was holding its breath.

"Damnit..." Shadow cursed quietly. If only he hadn't allowed himself to get distracted, he would have noticed the strange occurrence sooner.

He too hopped to his feet and analyzed the situation.

"Chaos Energy?" Shadow muttered, plucking a dead leaf from midair and examined it.

A scream caused both hedgehogs to clench their fists and whirl around to face the direction of the scream.

"Someone's in trouble!" Sonic shouted and sped off, leaving a trail of blue behind.

The circus blurred by Sonic as he rapidly approached the area where the scream had come from. He stopped on a dime and grit his teeth at what he saw. A young female cat with pale blue fur was on the ground, her bright crystal blue eyes wide with shock. Her long lilac hair was splayed out underneath her and her lilac tipped tail was loosely curled around her leg. Surrounding her were four lanky, taller than average, black as night hedgehogs with various buckles and leather straps all over their inky bodies. The creatures were like shadows. Sonic could see through their murky torsos and limbs.

"Stay back! Or you'll be sorry!" The cat threatened, trying her best not to be afraid. Her dark blue pleated skirt, white button-up blouse, and pale grey leg warmers were stained with dirt and grass.

"Up here, creeps!" Sonic's voice suddenly called out from above head. All of the lanky shadowhogs, as well as the cat girl, looked up to see Sonic sailing through the air towards them.

"Get ready for one major headache!" Sonic grinned, curled up, and crashed into each and every one of the creatures with Spin Attack. The creatures writhed and disappeared into wisps of black smoke.

Sonic landed effortlessly next to the girl and kneeled down beside her.

"It's alright, I won't let anyone hurt you. Are you ok? What's your name?" Sonic asked with concern, quickly looking over her body for any major injuries.

The cat shook her head and with the help of Sonic, stood up.

"My name is Millie.. Those..those things..caught me off guard! The nerve!" Millie's eyes widened, "Oh! More of them!"

"Whoa!" Sonic spun around and gasped. One of the ink black hedgehogs was nearly nose to nose with Sonic, its lanky, clawed arm high in the air ready to strike. It had no eyes, no mouth, just a blank slate.

"Chaos Spear!"

A bright flash of light caused both Sonic and Millie to flinch and cover their eyes. When the light faded, Shadow slowly approached the two with his hand still outstretched.

"Hmph. Leave a few for me, at least." Shadow eyed Sonic, then turned to Millie and nodded. "You can walk, right? Sonic and I will make sure you get out of here safely. Now go." He gestured with his head to the nearby hill, "The exit is that way. Don't hesitate, just run. We will be fine."

Millie frowned. "But-"

Sonic shook his head and gave Millie a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Millie! You can trust me an' Shadow! We got this!"

The girl nodded, "Alright, but be careful..I mean it!" She ran up the hill, glancing over her shoulder one last time at the two before she disappeared over the hill toward the exit.

"Seems like the entire circus is overrun with those creatures.. This should be fun." Shadow crossed his arms and smirked. The two hedgehogs exchanged glances and nodded, speeding off in separate directions toward the monsters.

Black and blue weaved past game booths, food stalls, and rides, fighting the overwhelming amount of the attacking lanky creatures.

"Where'd everyone go? I don't see anyone else but those tall creeps." Sonic said after finishing off a group of the leather bound creatures. He leapt high into the air and raced up the length of a wooden roller coaster.

It was hard to see anything from the top. All the lights of the circus were off, enveloping the entire place in an unsettling darkness and silence.

"Wonder what's causin' all this.. Better see how ol' Shads is holdin'-agh!" Sonic's entire field of vision turned into bright white as a searing pain burned through his body. He sucked in a sharp breath of air, and in his daze he tried to spin around to defend himself against whatever had attacked him. As the ground rushed up to him, Sonic realized that he was now falling fast.

"Ugh..!" He managed to grab onto one of the roller coaster's wooden support beams. The frantic scraping of claws caught Sonic's attention and he looked up in time to see dozens of the lanky hedgehog creatures rushing at him, claws gleaming.

"Sorry guys, no time for autographs!" Sonic released his grip and freefalled, bouncing and springing off of the support beams gracefully as he raced down toward the ground. He winced and clutched his wounded side. Wounded or not, this was no time for the Blue Blur to slow down. That just wasn't his style.

Meanwhile, Shadow carefully maneuvered around his enemies, tactfully attacking the creatures with his Chaos powers and hand to hand combat.

"They just keep coming, don't they?" Shadow grumbled to himself, sliding to a stop. Movement in the near distance caught Shadow's attention. As he dived and spun around his enemies, his eyes widened when he realized that Sonic was being overwhelmed.

"He's being careless.." Shadow growled. This was no time to let his concern cloud his better judgment. He timed his next attack perfectly so he could bounce off his enemy and get a decent head start towards his companion. The creatures lashed out their arms, which extended and turned into a flurry of black inky tendrils. They wrapped snugly around Shadow's arms, legs and neck and slammed him harshly to the ground.

Shadow grunted and watched the creatures with one eye closed.

"Tsk, is that the best you can do?" He taunted and struggled against the tendrils, testing their strength.

Sonic yelped in surprise when a few of the creatures phased right through the wooden beams nearest to him. That same blinding white engulfed him as a pain more intense than before wracked his body. A small whine escaped Sonic's mouth. With eyes shut tight, Sonic crashed into one wooden beam after another before he finally fell a small distance and landed with a dull thud against the ground.

"..Ngh..." Sonic groaned, half of his face pressed against the dew kissed grass. His vision blurred. Slowly the blue hedgehog's body began to sink into his own shadow. Too hurt to move and too dazed to truly understand what was going on, Sonic closed his eyes and slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

"Sonic!" Shadow yelled, then baring his fangs he growled, "Chaos Control!" and teleported out of the tendrils' grip. Shadow closed the gap between he and Sonic at a rapid pace. The ebony hedgehog reached out to pull Sonic out of the rippling shadow, but a sudden blast of chaotic energy exploded outward. It sent Shadow flying back a great distance. He crashed through a game stand and eventually tumbled to a rough stop. Crackling energy coursed up and down his body, paralyzing his muscles.

Such strength. He had never encountered such strength before.

Shadow's mind screamed at himself to move, to twitch, to do anything. Sonic was in trouble, and it was all up to him to save him. He couldn't fail.

Shadow struggled to keep his eyes open, but his eyelids grew too heavy to keep open.

As darkness overcame him, Shadow could have sworn that he could hear nearly-whisper quiet, out of tune circus music playing all around him.

* * *

*To be continued in the next chapter...  
(Please review! I greatly appreciate any comments!)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is here! Thank you for the kind reviews on chapter 1, they were soooo appreciated. I hope everyone enjoys what I've dreamed up!  
( *cough* The rating will increase after this chapter *cough* )

* * *

Darkness.

Was this... a dream?

A finger traced his jaw.

He felt the overwhelming need to pull away from the touch.

That cold, brutal touch.

He wanted nothing to do with it.

Shadow took in a sharp breath of air and opened his eyes.

The sky was a hopeless abyss, completely void of stars. In the center of the sky was a chaotic mess of dark reds and purples, slowly rotating counter clock-wise.

With a quiet groan, Shadow propped himself up on his elbows and felt his skull throb painfully. The silhouettes of circus stalls were all around him, silently observing the fallen hedgehog. Although there was absolutely no one present, he could still hear the faint, muffled, echoing ambience of a circus all around him.

"Cir..cus..?" Shadow muttered, his own voice foreign to even him. "...Where is he-" Without being fully aware of his actions, the ebony hedgehog rose shakily to his feet, "..Sonic...?" Shadow spoke quietly to himself, his memories gradually returning to him. He gazed up at the sky, the magnitude of the situation finally dawning on him. Sonic had been taken, whisked away to Chaos knows where. The circus, Shadow now recalled clearly, had been overrun by odd shadow monsters. He remembered reaching for Sonic, but something repelled him back... Something powerful...

Shadow narrowed his eyes and began to travel in a random direction, since it was as good as any, and took in his surroundings as he went. He came to a stop by a vacant game stall riddled with grinning toys. The circus was nothing like he remembered. Everything was rearranged, maze-like, distorted, different.

A black and red checkered surface replaced the lush grass. The air felt thick and heavy. It was dark, but this was not 'night'. And the sky...

Shadow growled out of frustration, clenched his fists, and punched the display of toys, sending their mad grinning faces straight to the ground.

Where was he?

Where was...?

"Sonic-!" Shadow bellowed, then held his breath in hopes to hear something, anything, that would help him find his counterpart.

He froze. Something wisped by the corner of his eye. Something black, something lacking of any real substance or figure. Shadow whirled around. Again it happened, once again grazing his peripheral vision.

Was he going mad? Or was something.. hunting him?

Shadow felt a cold tingle down his spine and the sudden urge to press forward, to get away. Paranoia suffocated his once clear mind.  
He had to run.

The muted colors of the circus stalls blended into each other as Shadow ran faster and faster, turning corners sharply and leaping over discarded toys and broken railings. The faster he ran, the faster... 'it' ...went, keeping up with him easily and still dancing just out of his visual field.

"Stop it.." Shadow uttered, blinking hard a few times in hopes that his eerie 'hunter' was really just his eyes playing tricks on him.

An indescribable panic gripped his chest and caused him to lose focus just long enough to misstep and send him tumbling to the ground. He held his head, alarmed at the sudden feeling of overwhelming terror. Never had he felt fear this deep before. What was happening to him?

"Stop it..!" Shadow called out with his eyes shut tight, wanting nothing more than for the stalking shadows to leave him alone. He didn't dare open his eyes.

The odd world around him suddenly went dead silent except for one crystal clear chuckle.

A cruel, amused chuckle.

The familiarity of the laugh sent Shadow's mind reeling.

That couldn't have been...?!

A deep rage began to boil in Shadow's chest.

"Mephiles-!" Shadow roared and slammed his palms to the ground, then jumped to his feet. "Where are you?! What have you done!" He felt like a fool for falling victim to Mephiles' mind tricks so easily.

There was a movement in the near distance, as if responding to Shadow's outburst.

"...?" Shadow stared in disbelief.

He fast approached a looming, whimsical polka-dot building and there, sitting infront of the entrance was a powder blue toy bear.

Shadow silently knelt infront of Sonic's toy bear.

"I swear, Mephiles... If you hurt him..." Shadow felt his heart thud wildly against his ribcage. There was no doubt that that vile hedgehog, Mephiles, was behind all of this. He ran straight into the darkness of the building, wanting nothing more than to tear the hedgehog who caused all of this trouble limb from limb.

Though it was near impossible to see where he was going, he pressed onward. Time passed and the surrounding darkness slowly gave way. Shadow couldn't help but marvel at the bizarre scenery.

"What is this..?" Shadow muttered to himself as he now cautiously traversed the topsy turvy world. At one point, Shadow mused, the building must have been the Maze of Mirrors attraction. But thanks to Mephiles' influence, the once fun attraction had turned into something far more treacherous. There were no walls, only an endless black void with countless mirrors of all shapes and sizes floating in midair as far as he could see. Each mirror was playing a different scene from Shadow's memories. He saw many familiar faces... Rouge, Maria, Silver, Amy, Sonic... He continued walking down the floating, red and black checkered pathway, distracted by the looping images, eyes locked on the memories of Maria. Shadow paused, too distracted to notice the swirling tendrils slithering out from the black portions of the checkered pathway.

The attack came without warning, without sound. By the time Shadow realized he had taken damage, he was already tumbling over the checkered path and falling into the void. Shadow looked up and saw the crawling mass of smoky black tendrils writhing every which way all over the edges of the pathway.

He was all too aware of the burning pain across his back where the tendrils had struck him hard enough to split flesh.

Mirrors and memories blurred past as he fell deeper and deeper into the void.

Shadow felt the same cold tingling down his spine from earlier. He felt that same impractical fear. His heart pounded, his blood turned cold. No- he absolutely refused to allow himself to cave in to that ridiculous fear again. And yet, the more he struggled and fought inwardly, the more he felt himself slip away from his own thoughts. The deeper he fell into the void, the more Shadow began to find it difficult to be angry, to feel concerned about falling, to feel anything at all. Numb.

The shine in Shadow's eyes dulled, that vibrant ruby color was now a rusty red.

...

A laugh..

Was that Mephiles' laugh?

Shadow struggled in vain to move. Were his eyes closed, or was he still falling deep into the depths of the void? Had he slipped into unconsciousness at some point? Or was he dreaming?

Shadow struggled to recall why he was here at all...

He felt someone's fingers caress his lower lip. A deep loathing swelled in Shadow's chest. As if running on instinct, Shadow found enough strength to bite down on the hand- hard. It earned him a sharp strike across the face. The pain raced down his body and reminded him of the fresh wounds on his back. He groaned in pain.

"_Still have some fight left in you, I see_." A poisonous voice hissed.

Shadow slowly opened his eyes. Still within the embrace of the void, he realized he was also bound by smoky tendrils within a well oversized, Victorian-esque mirror frame.

Mephiles floated in the air, sitting with his legs crossed, watching Shadow intently as if admiring his own reflection.

Shadow stifled a cry when he felt claws dig into the back of his neck and painfully pull him forward so he were nearly nose to nose with the other hedgehog.

"_Tsk tsk, Shadow. You were almost mine a moment ago.._"

"Where. Is. Sonic." Shadow growled under his breath, staring him down.

"_You really should be more concerned about your own well being..._" Mephiles cooed and twisted his claws, which caused Shadow to cry out.

He kept the ebony hedgehog still with just one hand, while the other traced his cheek bone.

"Tell me where he is, bastard!" Shadow shouted, his pain turning to anger.

Mephiles took pleasure in the pained look of his prey.

"_There it is again. I see it in your eyes, Shadow. That unrelenting will. Despite impossible odds, you continue to fight. Why is it that you persevere while others submit to defeat? Is he that dear to you?_"

By now Shadow's neck felt like it were on fire. Trickles of blood leaked down his shoulders and torso, staining the white fluff on his chest.

"_Submit to me_." His grip tightened, claws sinking in slightly deeper. "_Submit, and I will spare everyone from a cruel fate. Would this not be the most noble thing for you to do, given your current situation? There is no hope for you here, though you still have one last chance to save everyone.. including Sonic. Simply accept me as your master, and be my shadow_."

It was never that damn simple with Mephiles, Shadow knew that.

He continued to bore his eyes into that of Mephiles', but the racing pain made it difficult to keep his eyes opened. His eyes fluttered shut, thus forfeiting their staring contest.

"Idiot. For a fellow with no mouth, you talk way too much. Now listen to me as hard as you can... I'm not afraid. I'll never be your little victim.. and I swear, keep this up, and I _will_ kill you." Shadow snarled quietly.

"Ugh...!" With much relief, Mephiles released his grip on Shadow.

All he could do was hang his head and feel his body go limp.

"_You will be mine, Shadow. Body and soul_."

Mephiles manifested behind him, sliding one arm around Shadow's waist. The other hand gripped Shadow's chin and twisted his head up painfully so that Mephiles could whisper directly into the ebony hedgehog's ear.

"_And believe me... _

_...I will take great pleasure in tearing everything you love apart_."

* * *

(to be continued, and as always, comments/reviews welcomed!)


End file.
